Google Play hits 50 billion downloads mark

Google has finally hit the 50 billion downloads milestone, according to CEO Larry Page. Page announced this new feat during the company’s recent second quarter earnings call.

It took the Mountain View company around two months to add two billion downloads more since announcing during the Google I/O event in May that they had reached 48 billion downloads.

Meanwhile, at around the same period, Google’s rival Apple said that the iTunes App Store had passed the 50 billion downloads mark.

Page also mentioned that Google paid app developers more money during the first six months of 2013 compared to the amount paid during the entire 2012. This, according to Page, attests to the growth of the app market.

Estimates

Analyst and developer Shen Ye previously estimated that Google would reach 50 billion downloads on June 9th, but it turned out that such time was not enough for Google. Using algorithms, Ye had once been able to estimate correctly when Google would achieve 25 billion downloads. Though off by about a week, he was also able to predict the time when Google would hit the 48 billion download mark. After making adjustments, he announced the June 9th date. Said developer likewise stated that Google would pass the 100 billion downloads mark by the end of May 2014.

Android device activations

Meanwhile, in the same call, Page underscored the number of Android device activations, which is 1.5 million daily and 900 million in total. However, the same figure had already been announced during Google I/O, so Page’s announcement was no big surprise.

Moto X

Page also mentioned the upcoming launch of the Moto X, and revealed that he himself had been a tester of the much-awaited handset. Page, nonetheless, refused to share any details about the Moto X, and only shared his excitement to the audience.